Solar power with zero up-front costs

Could installing systems across whole developments speed up solar rollout?

Spotted: The UK’s Future Homes Standard is poised to impose stringent new carbon mandates for all new homes, and regulatory initiatives like this are helping to drive the market for rooftop solar power. UK startup GRYD Energy is hoping to take advantage of this trend, while reducing costs and risk for homeowners.

Central to the company’s offer is finance. Institutional investors are already pouring money into solar projects, with the startup highlighting that over a billion dollars per day was invested in solar in 2023. For the most part, however, these investments are in utility-scale projects. GRYD Energy is now trying to tap into this pool of institutional capital for residential rooftop systems.

Its plan is to focus on the new build market, owning and operating rooftop solar-plus-storage systems across entire developments. By co-ordinating closely with developers and fitting in with their construction programmes, the company can deliver economies of scale to provide investors with stable and predictable returns, as with a utility-scale project.

The homeowner meanwhile pays no up-front costs and does not have to purchase the solar hardware. Instead, GRYD Energy sells the customer the electricity produced on their roof at a price lower than traditional power from the grid. This saves them from large one-off costs, but it also means they are not tied into long-term solar financing contracts, making moving house easier. The lease for GRYD’s equipment stays with the title of the house, meaning that if a new buyer agrees to having their energy supplied by the system, there is no need for the existing owner to pay off the cost of the solar panels.

The startup uses AI to model the energy use of a home at the level of individual appliances. Its systems then optimise the time that appliances like EV chargers, water heaters, and clothes driers are used to align with power generation, thereby maximising energy self-sufficiency.

By owning many rooftop solar and storage assets, GRYD Energy can also create a ‘virtual power plant’. This means that homes fitted with the startup’s assets can share electricity with one another independent of the public grid. The entire network can therefore be optimised to ensure the best customer outcomes.

GRYD co-founder Tom Jordan told Springwise that the company is “scaling up to deploy on larger projects,” following a successful pilot and a recent funding round. “Our pipeline of projects is continuing to grow and now exceeds 1000s units over the next few years.”

The company is also engaged with housing associations and registered providers to see how its model can help to retrofit tens of thousands of managed homes to meet more stringent energy efficiency standards.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead